By Lawrance Morrissey
I see them all the time. You know, those $13 red "For Sale By Owner" yard signs. They can be purchased at your local home store. We used to sell the exact same sign. I've since upgraded to a higher quality variety that won't bend in any breeze over five knots.
I can't blame homeowners for trying to sell by owner; that's what our business is about. Who wouldn't want to sell a home using a $13 yard sign, vs. $10,000 for a full service real estate agency? Occasionally, people get lucky, but much like Vegas, the odds are against them.
Sadly, I see the $13 yard sign replaced with a real estate company's sign, often only 3-4 weeks after the initial sales attempt.
When no other advertising is done, a home owner is virtually destined for failure. After a few short weeks, the home owner determines that selling "For Sale By Owner" doesn't work, and turns the home over to a broker who will charge an average of $10,000 in commissions.
So most home owners who initially try to save money selling their home, go from a $13 sign, to a $10,000 contract in less than a month. My advice to those home owners: If you won't do any other advertising, and you're only going to give yourself a month to sell, do yourself a favor and save your $13.
For starters, allowing 3-4 weeks to sell is a true disservice to the homeowner. Considering the average time to sell in the Indianapolis metropolitan area is currently about 90 days, what in the world makes any homeowner think they can sell in 21-30 days, with nothing more than a yard sign? Here's an easy question: How much time would an agent ask for to sell the same home? Six months is standard. So why don't homeowners allow themselves the same amount of time?
I often hear this ridiculous sales plan first hand from customers who shop our retail store. On numerous occasions, hopeful home sellers purchase signs who confess they will try selling for 3 to 4 weeks before turning the home over to an agent! Once I replied "So you're planning on failure then?" After a brief moment, my customer agreed with me!
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It's no wonder that agents act like hungry sharks who smell blood when they see a For Sale By Owner sign go up. They know the mentality of the average seller, and simply need to wait a month.
How much should a person spend to save $10,000? Anything up to $9,999 would be a gain, so spending $5,000 would actually be a great return. If one could do that in the Stock Market, they would be considered a very savvy investor. Since it takes money to make money, one should be willing to spend a minimum of $500 to $1,000 for a net gain of $9,000+. Show me a home seller who only committs to spending $13 to $100 to potentially save $10,000, and I'll show you one who makes a colossal financial mistake.
Selling a home is a major commitment. One doesn't make money by not advertising the home; they make money by not paying commissions. Somebody has to advertise the home to sell it. The question is, should a seller pay $10,000 to an agent for $1,000 worth of advertising? Of course not.
Home sellers should commit the time and money toward print and online advertising, a professional yard sign, several directional arrows, photo flyers, good photography and host a few open houses. Most importantly, sellers need to be patient. Selling in today's market takes time. I realize I'm asking a lot since Indianapolis was recently ranked the second most impatient city in the United States, behind Austin, TX.
Between For Sale By Owner Magazine and our high-traffic website, we put our clients homes in front of 40,000+ buyers per month. That's typically enough exposure to find the one buyer they need. We also provide our clients with professional yard signs, directional arrows, photo flyers, legal paperwork and educational advice with every package and we're with them every step of the way. So how do our services fit between the $13 yard sign and 7%? Well, considering our 80% success rate (compared to the MLS' 50-60%) we're an absolute bargain. In fact, our successful home sellers save an average 94% of their would-be commissions, and sell in the same amount of time as MLS listed homes.
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